The Best and Worst of China

Now that we only have a couple of weeks left in China, we have started to reflect on our time here. Here is what we have come up with.

Things We Will Miss About China:
* 70 minute foot massages for $4 (this has been a weekly treat since we first moved here two years ago)
* Simplicity of life - no bills, no car, we would simply just walk to work together in the morning, and then go home afterward and spend the evenings together. Time outside of work is always "quality time."
* Random Chinese people saying "hello" while we are on a run. They will even call out from the 10th story of a building to say "hello" to us.
* Traveling at least five times a year. During our time here we went to: Hong Kong, Xian, Yangshao, Beijing, Macau, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia.

Things We Will Not Miss About China:
* The extra step - whenever we are getting a service such as eating out at a restaurant, there is always an extra step. Ex: when going to the doctor, first you go to a desk to pick up a service card, then you see the doctor, then go back to the front desk to pay, then back to the doctor to get the service, and finally back to the front desk to return the service card. Do you really need to go to the desk three times??
* Sidewalk chaos. With 14 million people in Shenzhen alone, you would think there would be some organization on the sidewalks (stay to the right, no sudden stopping/starting, etc.) but people seem to wander from side to side, push and shove, and dart in to oncoming traffic (people and cars) at any time. Just this morning, I took out a woman with the baby jogger on my run because she wasn't looking and made a sudden move to the side as I was running by.
* No personal space. If you are not touching the person in front of you in a line, then someone will cut in front of you!